Airplane construction



1,524,266 A. A. LONGAKER AIRPLANE CONSTRUCTION Filed July 10 1923 4Sheets-Sheet 1 A. A. LONGAKER AIRPLANE CONSTRUCTION Filed July 10, 19234 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 27. 1925. 1,524,266

' A. A. LONGAKER AIRPLANE CONSTRUCTION Filed July 10, 1923 4 SheetsSheet5 1 uil erjflfgyw A. A. LONGAKER AIRPLANE CONSTRUCTION Filed July 10,1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Jan. 27, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT A. LONGAKER, OF CHAMBERSIBURG, PENNSYLVANIA AIRPLANECONSTRUCTION.

Application filed July 10, 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT A. LoNGAKEn, a citizen of the United States,residing at (.hambersburg, in the county of Franklin. and StateofPennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Airplane ConstrucThe main purpose of my invention is toprovide propulsion and steeringmechanism at once easy and inexpensive to manufacture and well suited tothe needs of service.

A further purpose is to mount driving impellers in tubes trunnionedhorizontally and at the discharge epds of these tubes, within thedischarge, to provide steering vanes trunnioned in a vertical plane.

A further purpose is to provide each tube with a diagonal intake and tomount the impeller in the intake.

A further purpose is to have the tubes in pairs with the diagonalintakes oppositely and outwardly directed so as to be in relativebalance and to secure a larger field of air supply.

A further purpose is to obtain great flexibility and reliability ofcontrol of impellers within swivelled tubes by providing them withindividual electric motor drive mounted upon the respective tubes.

A further purpose is to mount the impeller and its motor upon the sameshaft.

Further purposes will appear in the specification and in the claims.

I have selected for illustration only one of the various forms of myinvention, with a slight variation in mounting, selecting a form whichparticularly well illustrates the principles involved, which principlesare shown somewhat diagrammatically.

Figure 1 is a side elevation.

Figure 2- is a plan, partl in section along Serial No. 650,627.

Describing in illustration and notin limitation and referring to thedrawings Hitherto it has been usual to have gasoline drive for theimpellers of an air ship and many fatalities have resulted fromsomething temporarily going wrong with the engine. I endeavor to correctthis con dition by providing the impellers with individual electricmotor drive, generating the current by means of a dynamo operated by acentral gasoline engine of high efiiciency, such as a Diesel engine, andfurther providing a small storage battery adapted to supply enough powerto land the ship in case of temporary accident to the generating engine.

Planes are now equipped with engines up to 250 horse power and larger,and with these large units the combination of a central self-containedgenerator set and an individual motor at each impeller may even be madeto eti'ect a saving in weight, andin addition to this and the increasedfreedom from accidents and the greater ease with which the combinationmay be taken care of, I obtain greatly increased flexibility by mountingindividual motors on the impeller shafts of swivelled tubes.

in this arrangement the motors can be made reversible and the ship canbe steered like ocean liners having multiple propellers. One side may beslowed down and the other given full speed forward or reverse; and forbanking all motors may be reversed.

I provide the plane with balanced pairs of tubes, each pair havingoutwardly flaring intakes to secure an easier supply of air and greaterstability of plane. I also provide steering vanes mounted in thedischarge blasts of the tubes.

Some of these advantages may be obtained with non-electric motors, andparticularly so if the motors are reversible.

- In the illustration, the framework 10 rigidly supports the outer airtubes 11 and 12 and pivotally supports the inner air tubes 13 and 14:.It 'is provided with operators platform 15, air plane 16, -forwardwheels 17 and rearward shoes 18.

The impellers 19 are mounted in the inlet ends of the tubes whichadvantageously flare diagonally outward, thereby facing a larger fieldof air supply and permittingthe shafts 20 of the impellers to bediagonal with respect to the tubes and to'extend rearwardly through theinside walls of the tubes to motors 21 mounted on the tubes. Theimpellers and their respective motors are thus axially in line, eachindividual tube having its individual power unit of impeller and motor.

age battery 23.

In the drawings the impeller and motor of'each individual tube aremounted upon the same shaft and I usually prefer to do this. In practicehowever special circumstances may make it desirable to have a cou plingconnection between each motor audits impeller;. so that eachmotor-impeller unit may, according to circumstance, be mounted upon asingle shaft or upon shafts in line coupled together.

Electrical energy for the motors is supplied through suitable wiring,not shown, from the central gasoline-driven electrical generator 22 andfrom the emergency stor- These electrical units are not described indetail as they do not in themselves form, part of the present invention.The generator charges the battery and the battery is available at alltimes for emergency use.

The outer air-tubes 11 and 12 are. rigidly fastened to the frame work bybrackets 24 and struts 25 and each carries one of the bearin 26 for theadjacent pivoted tube. The 0t er bearings 27 for the pivoted tubes aresupported by brackets 28 from the operator s platform.

The inner tubes 13 and 14 are provided with trunnion projections 29turning in bearings 26'and 27. These tubes are rotatable upon theirtrunnions and may be set to any angle with respect to the outer tubes bymeans of handwheels 30 and 31 respectively keyed to plinion shafts 32and 33. The pinions on t-ese shafts mesh with spur gears 34 and 35rigidly mounted on the trunnions of the tubes.

Normallythe trunnioned tubes will turn as one in order that the tubesmay be in'relative balance, but under special conditions it may bedesirable tosetthem at different angles and clutch mechanisl n 36 isprovided whereby the shafts 32 and 33 may be relatively' locked orrelatively free. lVhen the shafts are locked to ether the tubes may beangularly positione, by either handwheel; while when the shafts arerelatively free the handwheel adjustments to the tubes are relativelyindependent. j

The steering sections of the tubes are shown at 37, where in each tubethe vane 38 is mounted upon a pivotedshaft 39 carrying at its middle asheave 40 for adjusting the vane. The shaft 39 is pivotally carried inthe tube at 41 and 42. i

The steering control comprises a hand- .ly spacednear opposite sides ofthe tube but they mayif desired be upon a common shaft, and undercertain conditions are preferably upon a common shaft, and are thusshown in the outer tubes. The wire .rope 46 may be individual rope foreach tube or a common rope passing successively around the sheave 40 ofeach tube.

Suitable mechanism is provided for locking the handwheels 30 and 31 ofthe tubes and the handwheel 43 of the steering vanes at any temporarilydesirable settings. This mechanism may conveniently comprise for thehandwheels 30 and 31 clutches 50 and 51 between the spur gears 34 and 35and the bearings for the trunnions of the tubes, and for the steeringwheel may comprise a clutch 52 between the steeringwheel shaft and itsbearing.

In Figures 1 to 4 the motors for the impellers are shown outside of thetubes and in Figure 5 I show an alternative form in which the motor andimpeller are mounted together within the outer end of the tube. Theimpeller is shown here rigidly fastened to the shaft of the motor andclose to the motor, and the motor is rigidly fastened within theenlarged outer end of the tube by brackets 53.

lVhile this arrangement will obviously somewhat change the balance ofthe tubes in View of the greater weight at the forward end of the tube,it has advantages, such as compactness which may under certaincircumstances make it the preferable form.

The rudder vanes are normally pivoted in vertical planes longitudinal ofthe tubes and perpendicular to the pivotal axis of the inner tubes.

In this arrangement variation in the angular position of the vanessteers the plane sideways without affecting its vertical direction. andvariation in the vertical setting of the innertubes steers vertically,changing the vertical inclination of the plane without afl'eeting itssideway direction.

It is thus evident that the combination of tubes and vanes pivotedrelatively at right angles is one adapted to easy steering in anydirection whatever; and it is normally preferable to have the vanespermanently set to pivot at right angles to the pivots of the tubes, inthat there is then mutual independence of horizontal and verticalsteermg.

It will be evident that the impulse of the high speed discharge is ofconsiderable advantage and that it is more advantageous in that thereaction of the escaping jet is obtained along with the steadying effectof the diagonal intake.

It will be noted that the'rear of the tube isenlarged to protect againstrestriction of opening when the steering vane is turned; and that it isnot merely made larger but is given a generally oval shape having itsminor axis parallel to the pivot of the vane in order that when the vaneisturned to its extreme lateral position, the discharge opening at therear at a minimum may have substantially the same cross section as thatof the intermediate length of the tube and that the outlet shape maythen be nearly the shape of the cross section of the tube.

I am aware however that special circumstances may arise making itdesirable to have the vane pivot in one or more of the tubes axiallyadjustable in respect to its inclination with the tube pivot.

This can readily be done for any tube having the whole steering sectionof the tube and therefore the pivot of its steering vane carried by thesection adjustably turning within the tube.

The requisite mechanism to thus make one 36 or more of the vane pivotsadjustable in respect to its inclination to the tube pivot, and to havethe'adjustmcnt control at the operators platform is shown for the vanesof the outer tubes in Figure 2.

The steering sections of the outer tubes are adjustably turned away toany desired setting by changing the position of the handwheel' 54,which, a unit with the small sprocket wheel 55 is loosely mounted uponthe shaft 33 along side of the handwheel 31. Any suitable clutchmechanism 56 between this unit and. the platform is provided tomaintainthewheel at any setting.

The position of the wheel 54 determines the angular positions-of thesteering sections of the outer tubes, these-sections being provided withteeth 57 meshing with cars 58 upon shaft 59, and the sprocket c ain 6Ogearing with the wheel 61 on the shaft 5 to the wheel 55 of thehandwheel.

Obviously variation in the position of the handwheel 54 steersdiagonally sideways upward or diagonally sideways downward; variation inthe position of the wheel'BO or -of 31 changes the vertical inclinationwithout changing the horizontal direction; and finally turning the wheel43 steers sideways without changing the vertical inclination.-

Of a number of further anticipated advantages one is the stabilizinginfluence up drivin on the plane of the rush of air to the out-v wardlyflaring intakes of the relatively balto meet individual whim orparticular need,

and I claim all such in so far as they fall within the reasonable spiritand scope of my claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is '1. In an air ship, an air tube, a diagonalinlet thereto, an impeller mounted in the inlet to rotate in planestransverse thereto, a driving shaft for the impeller extending throughthe wall of the tube andgenerally parallel to the access of the inlet,andmeans Without the tube for driving the shaft,

2. In an air ship, a trunnioned air tube, a diagonal inlet sectionthereon, an impeller mounted in the section, a driving shaft from theimpeller extending through the wall of the tube, and driving means indirect connection therewith mounted upon the trunnioned tube.

3. In an air ship, a pair of tubes -located toward opposite sides of theship, pivot supports therefor substantially axiall' in line, an intakefor each tube directe di agonally outward, and means for passing airthrough the tubes.

4. In an air ship, a pair of tubes located toward opposite sides oftheship, a pivot support for each tube, an intake for each tube directeddiagonally outward, and means for passing air through the tubes.

5. In an air ship, a pair of substantially parallel tubes on oppositesides of the center line of the ship, an intake for each tube di-'rected diagonally outward, an impeller mounted in each intake androtating in planes transverse thereto, a driving shaft for the impellerextending through the outer wall of the corresponding tube, and meansWithout the tubes for driving the-shafts.

6. In an air ship, a pair of tubes located on opposite sides of thecenter line of the ship, trunnion supports therefor substantiallyaxially in line, an intake section on each tube directed diagonallyoutward, an impeller in each section having a driving shaft extendingthrough the tube outer wall, and means directly connected therewithcarrie by the tube.

7. In an air ship, a pair of substantially parallel tubes located onopposite sides of the ship, an intake for each tube directed diagonallyoutward, asecond pair of substantially parallel tubes between the firsthaving oppositely directed diagonal intakes, trunnion supports thereforaxially in line, and means for passing 'airthrough all the tubes.

8. In an air ship, a pair of tubes located on opposite sides of thecenter line of the ship and trunuioned as a unit, an intake for eachtube directed diagonally outward, and means for passing air thrbugh thetubes.

9. In an air ship, a trunuioned tube, an impeller pivotally supportedthereby and adapted to pass air therethrough, anda reversible motorsupported by the tube and adapted to drive the impeller.

10. In an airship, an air tube, a discharge tube at the end thereof andaxial therewith, a connection between the tubes adapting thedischarge'tube to be adjustably turned on its axis, avane pivoted acrossthe discharge tube, means for adjusting the inclination of the vane withrespect to the axis of the tube, and means for passing air through thetubes.

11. In an air ship, a pivoted air tube having a hollow trunnion, asteering vane pivoted across the tube in the'discharge end thereof, awheelupon the vane pivot connected to the vane, a steering shaft to oneside of the tube, a. pulley rigidly mounted thereon, flexible connectionbetween the wheel and pulley through the trunnion adapting the shaft toposition the wheel and thereby .to adjust the vane.

12. In an air ship, a pair of pivoted air tubes, a hollow trunnion oneach tube, a steering vane pivoted across each tube in the discharge endthereof, a wheel upon each pivot positioning its vane, a steering shaftbetween the tubes, a pulley rigidly mounting thereon, flexibleconnection between the wheelsand pulley through the trunnions adaptingthe shaft to position the Wheels and thereby angularly adjust the vanes.

.13. In an air ship,a pair of relatively spaced and stationary airtubes, a discharge tube at the end of each tube, co-axial therewith, andadapted to be turned on its own axis, a vane in the discharge endthereof, and common means for angularly positioning the discharge tubesupon their axes.

14. In an air ship, a pair of relatively spaced and stationary airtubes, a discharge tube at the end of each tube, co-axial therewith andadapted to be turned with respect to its own axis, a vane pivoted acrosseach discharge tube, common means for angularly positioning the vanewith respect to their pivotal axes, and common means for angularlypositioning the discharge tubes w th respect to their own-axes.

'15. In an air ship, a pair of relatively spaced and stationary airtubes, a discharge tube at the end of each tube, co-axial therewith andadapted to be turned on its own axis, a vane in each discharge tube, andcommon means for angularly positioning the discharge tubes with respectto their own axes, comprising circumferential teeth around eachdischarge tube, a pair of gears having a common shaft 'and respectivelymeshing with the teeth of each discharge tube, and means for angularlypositioning the shaft with respect to its own axis.

16. In an air ship, a body, in combination with paralleltrunnion-mounted air pipes adapted for adjustment together to differentdirections of intake and discharge and having considerably larger intakeopenings than discharge outlets, impellers for the tubes and motorsdriving the impellers.

17. In an air ship, a body, in combination with parallel trunuioned airtubes, considerably larger at the inlet ends than at the discharges,having inlet openings diagonal to the axes of the tubes and impellerswithin the enlarged ends of the tubes, with means for turning the tubestogether to discharge in different directions and motors connected withand driving the impellers.

18. In an air ship, a body, in combination with a plurality of paralleltrunuioned air tubes having enlarged diagonal inlet openings varyingfrom the axes of the tubes in opposite directions, impellers in theenlarged ends of the tubes, motors for the impellers and means forturning the tubes.

19. In an air ship, a body, in combination with a plurality of fixedimpeller tubes upon opposite sides of the center and a plurality oftrunuioned impeller tubes having coaxial trunnions on opposite sides ofthe center, the fixed and trunuioned tubes having enlarged diagonalopenings facing differently on opposite sides of the center, impellerswithin the enlarged ends of the tubes, motors for the impellers andmeans for positively turning the tubes on their trunnions.

20.'In an air ship, an air ship body, in combination with a pair ofimpeller tubes on opposite sides of the center of the ship, havingenlarged inlet openings, impellers in the tubes, means for driving theimpellers, steering vanes within the discharges from the tubes, meansfor turning the steering vanes to diverge the discharges andenlargements in the discharge outlets of the tubes adapted to give fulldischarge openings when the vanes are turned.

Dated, June 19, 1923.

ALBERT A. LONGAKER.

